Poodle knows best

Cici is not a big water drinker so I usually feed her food with water so that she will get enough to drink. She has to be really thirsty after a long walk to drink water out of her bowl.  When it is really hot outside, I’ve been known to give her ice cubes which she likes but does not replace drinking water. While driving/traveling, the ice cubes do help with the heat in the car.

So, when I heard about Frosty Bowlz, I was curious how this would work. Perhaps this would help her drink more water?  I LOVE the sleek stainless steel bowl design and best of all, Cici does seem to like drinking a little more water. The bowl is easy breezy to use for someone like me. All you have to do is take the nontoxic core part and freeze it in the freezer, take it out and put it underneath the stainless steel bowl and voila. Instant cool bowl and it lasts for hours !  I think that if you take the bowl with you while traveling, it will remain cool in the car. Hopefully, you can freeze it at the hotel or motel when you stop. At the dog park, dogs slurp up water like crazy. A few cool drinks of water and they are ready to go play again.

According to PetMD.com, in addition to serving a well balanced diet, providing enough drinking water is a vital part of your pet’s daily routine to maintaining overall good health. Consuming the adequate amount of water aids in the digestion of food, helps the body absorb nutrients and also serves to cool the body while helping maintain a normal temperature.

Many pet parents believe that pets prefer drinking cold water – as many as 43% of pet parents will put ice cubes in their pet’s dish to keep the water cool and encourage their pet to drink more. Understanding the important role water plays in keeping pets happy, healthy and well hydrated, the Talega^® team developed FrostyBowlz^®. Unlike ice cubes, this one-of-a-kind pet necessity keeps pets’ water refreshingly cold all day long, even in direct sunlight.

The secret to FrostyBowlz^® is in the FrostyCore^™ technology (patent pending). Filled with a non-toxic freezable gel, the FrostyCore^™ fits between the custom designed, high-quality stainless steel bowl and its non-skid bottom tray. Just pop the bowl’s center core in the freezer overnight and in the morning place it in the bowl to instantly upgrade your pets’ drinking experience. The FrostyBowlz^® temperature control lasts between 12 and 16 hours – providing pets access to colder water as much as 6x longer than other methods.

Unlike adding ice cubes to your pets water dish (a practice 43% of pet owners already do) , FrostyBowlz^® keeps pets’ water refreshingly cold all day long, even in direct sunlight. The freezable FrostyCore^® center provides access to colder water for as long as 16 hours – that’s 6x longer than other methods.

For more information on FrostyBowlz^®visit their website to get the scoop on the bowl, www.FrostyBowlz.com.

From the inventor Jeffrey Brown:

“FrostyBowlz® was inspired by our dog, Jäger, a black miniature poodle. During our first summer with Jäger, we noticed he didn’t drink much water while we were away even though he had nice indoor and outdoor areas to play and relieve himself. When we came home each day, we poured him some cool water from the refrigerator. He just lapped it up, as if he was dying of thirst. It made sense to me, I like cool water, why wouldn’t he? It was remarkable. Jäger wouldn’t touch his warm water in the garage, but he sure liked the cool stuff. This realization sparked an idea as my wife and I sat on the patio during one of those warm summer evenings. We scoured the Internet for a bowl that would keep his water cool and found nothing of any real quality. So we decided to create something ourselves. We came up with a design that made sense to us and worked with local and international factories to perfect our idea. Finally, after more than two years of hard work, FrostyBowlz® was born.

“Jäger loves to drink from his FrostyBowlz® on warm summer days, and it sure lasts longer than the ice cubes we used to add to his water.”

Dogs eat grass

Ever notice that your dog eats grass?  Cici eats grass all the time.

This is because they instinctively know they need chlorophyll (which is what makes grass green). Chlorophyll is cleansing and helps correct most illnesses in you or your pet. Algae has a very high concentration of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is like having  a bath for your insides.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dogs-Eating-Grass/184558638252723

Dogs require 22 amino acids and a deficiency in any of them can cause health problems. Fortunately dogs can make 12 of these amino acids but the remaining ones (called essential amino acids) must be consumed. Algae contains all 10 of these essential amino acids: arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Aside from feeding algae to your pet to improve overall health, algae may also help if your dog suffers from arthritis or cancer, since algae has been known to strengthen their autoimmune system and boost their healing (as it can with humans).

Like you, your pets also need water. Lots of it.  Think about this. When you were a kid, you probably had a gold fish. Right?  Remember what happened when you didn’t change the water? It got murky. Your gold fish seemed depressed, stopped swimming or worse – died. Poor thing. But once you cleaned out the bowl and replaced it with fresh water, little “Goldie”  was probably back doing laps again, maybe even back flips like Dr. Seuss’s  “One Fish, Two Fish”. Well, your body’s cells  are just like little Goldie. They need a constant supply of fresh water and if they don’t get it, they slowly but surely shut down,  just like little Goldie Without a daily supply of fresh water, the water around your cells gets dirty, murky and toxic like the water in your goldfish bowl did. Yuck. Who wants dirty goldfish water sloshing around inside them? Not us. Not Goldie. And not you either. So drink up. Drink often. And hopefully drink with our algae tabs.

But seriously, here’s why you and your pet need water. Your brain is 75% water. In fact, your muscles are 75% water too. Ever notice how you get thirsty when you exercise? Your body is over 60% water and some parts are even higher, like your blood and lungs which are 90% water. Did you know your body is constantly rebuilding itself? Yup, your bones, your organs, your skin, absolutely everything is in a constant state of re-growth 24/7. Can you imagine a skyscraper built without steel? Well, water is one of your body’s most critical building materials and it can’t build healthy bones, organs or anything else for you without water.

Not only that, but water is what moves stuff around in your body. Not having enough water is like not having enough construction workers on a work site. Water does much more than just quench your thirst. It actually helps to build and run your body efficiently. That’s why just an occasional glass of water isn’t enough. You really need those eight glasses every day. Sounds like a lot but you can add lemon, make it bubbly or whatever you like that will help you drink the water.

Let’s do the math. Each day, a typical adult loses an average of six cups of water from urine, four cups from breathing, sweating and bowel movements and two to three cups from digestion. That’s twelve cups even before you add in the dehydrating effects of caffeine, stress or exercise. Granted some of your H20 needs could come from your diet but only if you are eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. And no, French fries do not count.

If you are walking around dehydrated, you fatigue easily and nothing works as well as it should. In fact, without sufficient water, your body thinks it’s in survival mode. And when this happens, your body behaves like a squirrel who hides nuts before the winter. It holds on to and stores whatever it can get its hands on –causing swelling in feet, legs, hands, or horror of horrors – weight gain. But once you give your body what it needs, this stored water is usually released. Say hello to energy and weight loss.

Eight glasses of water a day is just a starting point. Your body treats water like a bank account. Every time you drink water, it’s like you’re making a deposit into the account. But unlike a real bank account where you are the only one authorized to make withdrawals, water withdrawals from your body can be made without your authorization or knowledge.

It’s like giving thousands of total strangers your ATM card and PIN number and allowing them to withdraw whatever they want, whenever they want. And they do. The result? You become bankrupt of water. And who are these unscrupulous strangers making these unauthorized withdrawals? Some are things you can control like your food and drink (eg caffeine and sugary foods are very dehydrating). Others are things you can’t control like breathing. Remember those twelve cups of water that you lose each day?  Without making additional water “deposits” (i.e. drinking more water)  to cover these other “unauthorized” water withdrawals your body can easily go into “overdraft” and become bankrupt i.e. dehydrated.

Still not convinced you need water? Then consider what happens when you get dehydrated. Without water in your body, you would be poisoned by your own waste products. Here’s what happens. During dehydration, the water surrounding your cells is reduced, leaving the small remaining amount to become stagnant and loaded with toxins. As dehydration continues, since your body absolutely has to have water surrounding its cells (to perform all its daily duties), it pulls out water from inside your cells. Yup, like a fugitive on the run, your body literally “steals” water wherever it can find it, from inside your cells, your blood, your organs and even from inside your colon (a big contributor to constipation). This continues until your cells finally lose all or most of their internal water, shrivel up, malfunction or become damaged. You can usually stop these early stages of dehydration just by drinking more water, but most people have no idea they are dehydrated. Too bad because there are so many health conditions that could be eased just by drinking more water.

Give your pet lots of water and some algae every day.

Your pet has nutritional needs just like you do. But, if their diet is insufficient, or if they are experiencing stress, joint pain or other health conditions you need to know how to help them. One thing you can do is supplement their diet with a protein rich source of vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids also known as algae.

Two forms of algae are Spirulina and Chlorella. They contain protein (60%) carbohydrates (19%), fats (6%) and bio-available minerals (8%). They are not extracts, concentrates or amalgams of vitamins and minerals that look good on paper such as the vitamin and mineral supplements that people get at the grocery store. In reality, the body does not absorb 90% of these vitamin supplements because they are dead and void of enzymes. Eating Spirulina or Chlorella is like eating any other whole food such as a banana, apple or broccoli…because it IS a food.

Spirulina and Chlorella are complete proteins meaning they provide the body with the eight essential amino acids, yet they go much further. They are over 60% protein, all which is in the form of amino acids (which means your body absorbs them instantly). The amino acids are also in the right ratio to one another (which means your body can use all of them).

The key difference between Chlorella (Recovery) and Spirulina (Energy) is that Chlorella has the additional benefit of being able to absorb toxins and has a higher concentration of chlorophyll whereas Spirulina will provide you with a bit more energy.

When you are introducing a new food like algae to your pet, the best time to do this is early in the morning when they wake up hungry and thirsty. To start, give them 5-6 tabs to ensure it’s something they like. Try mixing the tabs into their food or give them as treats. They’re food. Concentrated, high protein, high nutrition green food.

The amount of algae you feed your dog (or cat) depends on your pet’s weight, age and health condition. A 50-pound dog could be started with 5-6 tabs a day and within a few days can easily increase to 10-12 tabs/day or more. So, starting out with just a few tabs, gives you the confidence to know they are totally safe. In the 50 years that algae has been studied and consumed, there have  never been any reports of negative side affects, allergic reactions or interactions. Algae is food, a green food that comes from a plant, not from a prescription or pill. Its been safely eaten and studied  worldwide for over 50 years. It’s been sold in the USA for over 25 years.

Now Cici and I have been taking Naughty Bits algae tabs. I just swallow them with water and I put some in Cici’s food. She is not a big fan of anything green and neither am I. But I do know that algae is healthy for us both.  In order to ensure that Cici drinks enough water every day, I give her water with her food. Another way to get pets to drink more water is to give them water from a fountain. They enjoy moving water.

The Naughty Bits are sold in large, re-sealable foil bags of 1,000 tabs and each bag comes with a slim travel tin you can carry in your pocket, gym bag, doggie bag or handbag. They make healthy snacks and yummy treats for your pet. Each bag/tin is $115.00 and will last  1-2 months, depending on how many you take each day. For full benefit, take 20-30 tabs/day and give your pet 6-10 tabs/day or more if they are larger. Algae is FOOD, it can’t harm  you or your pet.

Naughtybits® algae tabs are free of artificial ingredients, contain no caffeine, chemicals, sugar, GMO, preservatives, animal products or gluten. Grown organically, they are 100% green, 100% natural, 100% raw, and 100% algae. In Japan, algae has been taken daily for over 50 years. Each Naughtybits® algae tab is the size of a breath mint.

The Naughty Nutritionist Inc.® is a nutraceuticals company based in Boston, MA. The Founder and CEO of The Naughty Nutritionist, Catharine Arnston, has an MBA and is a Board Certified Health Counselor.

If you think your pet needs more energy, try the ENERGYBits® which are 100% spirulina algae. If your pet needs to correct or prevent a health condition, try the  RECOVERYBits® which are 100% chlorella algae. If you would like to help your pet with both of these, give them the VITALITYBits® which are 50% spirulina and 50% chlorella and thus provide a mix of health benefits.

creating a peaceful dog oasis

imagine creating a fido delicious peaceful paradise backyard both for us humans and cici…

I’d like it to have a garden, fountain, pool/water, a sand box for cici to dig and a bunch of plants, trees with fruit… perhaps…

need a wooden box, organic soil, flowers and plants, wheat grass, grass and oat grass seeds, veggie, fruit seeds, wild bird seed, rocks, herbs, water fountain, fruit trees, sand box and more…

already put an ad on freecycle and craigslist, but so far, nada.

if you have any other suggestions on how to get any of the above for free or inexpensively, or if you’d like to donate, every little bit helps, thanks.

At the Cambria Pines Lodge, they have an amazing organic garden with a flower bed (shown below)… would love to recreate something like that. we’ve got a wheelbarrow and a wooden futon frame that I could get creative with.

Also want to create a community garden… and have artists paint the fence with murals. there is graffiti already on one side of the fence (outside) that could be painted over… images of PEACE… calming… Findhorn garden… a showcase for talented artists in this community…

this is an amazing peace site:

http://www.wherepeacelives.org/peace-murals.html

how to do this without spending a fortune????

and just how to do this hands on practically…   this site has some great ideas, tips and resources…

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2007/02/10/homes.nw-901049.sto

Nobody speaks for Fido when it comes to the backyard landscape. Yet he spends more time there than anyone else in the family.

What I call a K-9 conscious garden design blends amenities for you and your dog into a harmonious space. It also addresses the most common safety problems that can hurt your pooch and send your vet bill into the stratosphere.

Dogs are naturally mobile creatures, forever on the hunt for food like their ancestors the wolves. When they are cooped up with nothing interesting or mysterious to explore, they adopt undesirable behaviors out of frustration and boredom. Planting a tall grass meadow with flowers is not only a beautiful, wildlife-friendly form of gardening, it gives your dog hours of investigatory pleasure every day. Sure, manicured lawns are great for Frisbee, but when you’re at work that meadow becomes a primal bit of heaven for man’s best friend.

If you live in the city and don’t have room for a meadow, here’s a good alternative. Wheat grass juice is a big health drink for us and it’s just as good for dogs. They will naturally graze on it when they need the nutrients it contains rather than browsing your flowerpots. Consider planting wheat grass in low, wide troughs. Use flat plastic under-the-bed storage boxes with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. Fill the boxes with potting soil and sow with seed. Dirt-cheap organic seed for wheat and oats can be found in the bread-making section of the health food store.

Since ancient times, herbs have been used to repel fleas in human dwellings. They’ll also discourage fleas in the yard and in your dog’s general hangout areas. If you grow enough of them you can cut the branches, dry and use them to stuff your dog’s bed for a natural pesticide. Many herbs were once known as fleabane because they are so widely used for this purpose, and some may also discourage ticks.

Plant a fleabane garden or incorporate fleabane plants around the garden. When my dog Dot rubs against them I can smell the aromatic oils on her fur, which not only discourages pests, it covers up dog smell with fragrance! I recommend Menta pulegium, also known as pennyroyal. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthum) is also beautiful silvery gray plant and quite effective, too. Old-fashioned tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is top of the list, as well. All are perennial. When you shop, insist on the botanical names to ensure you get the exact plant that repels fleas.

Keep in mind, too, that some plants and landscaping materials are very bad for dogs. Vets say that when dogs are bored they will chew on most anything, and when that something is toxic you have a problem. Cocoa bean mulch contains caffeine and hulls of nuts falling from trees are rich in tannin, so both can be highly toxic if chewed. These include domestic walnuts or wild hickory. A few of the many plants poisonous to dogs are castor bean, foxglove, pokeweed, buckeye and yew. The master list of dog-toxic plants can be found at the ASPCA web site,http://www.aspca.org/toxicplants.

happy dogs sunbathing… cici LOVES to lie in the dirt in the yard and enjoy the rays… this is Little Red with her new dog pal / new home… (Little Red, one of the former v-dogs)…

A tip for pooches eating plants:

If your dog is chewing up your plants, this spicy, cayenne pepper

spray solution may be enough to discourage them. Be

aware that it requires repeated applications. The effectiveness

wears off in a day or two. The rain and automatic sprinklers

also wash it away. A dog won’t be discouraged by just one hot

bite either. They’ll go back and test it a few times with undesirable

results before they finally accept that the plant is not

worth tampering with. Use this spray every day for a couple

of weeks to condition the dog to leave the plant alone. Be sure

to spray the plant early in the morning so that the spray can

dry out before the sun hits the leaves.

1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper

2 Tablespoons powdered garlic

2 Cups hot water

Stir the cayenne pepper and garlic into hot water. Allow it to

set a few minutes then strain the remnants of the spices

through a fine kitchen sieve. Pour the strained liquid into a

plant spray bottle. Use as needed.

download the free ebook for more tips, ideas:

http://www.moplants.com/eBooks.php

feng shui for pets…

You may or may not know what feng shui is… you might think that it is silly, woo woo, airy fairy or New Agey nonsense. Feng Shui is an ancient practice utilized by the Chinese and can assist in harmonizing your home, office and other places. There are different schools of Feng Shui such as the black hat sect and each offer cures for the flow of chi (life energy). The point is to keep your home and office healthy by enhancing the natural elements such as fire, water, earth and air.

It has not occurred to me that you could utilize the principles of feng shui in relationship to your pets, but this morning, I saw  several articles about the subject.  Most Feng Shui practitioners agree that pets can add beneficial, good and positive energy and joy and love to your life. The various articles below each discuss different aspects of utilizing feng shui for the benefit of all members of the family, including your pets.

Whether you believe in Feng Shui or not, I hope that these articles will benefit you as I found them valuable. For instance, I used to always have a fountain of water in my home and have not had one the last few years. Instinctively, Cici drank from a water fountain at Sierra LeBone the other day.  Moving water is good for increasing wealth and prosperity and animals love to drink from water that flows naturally (like lakes, rivers, streams)… Water fountains can be soothing, listening to the sound of tinkling, bubbling water, just feels good.

http://horoscopes.aol.com/fengshui/feng-shui-your-pet

http://www.redlotusconsulting.com/Pets.html

http://www.fountainsfengshui.com/fengshuipettips

http://www.fengshuiplacement.com/feng-shui-tips/2007/12/11/feng-sui-for-pets/

http://www.awarenessmag.com/julaug4/ja4_feng_shui.html

Listen to the sound of a water fountain…

https://www.arcatapet.com/resource1.cfm

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/kobayashik/H2OFount.html

Indoor tabletop water fountains can play an important role in the decor of our offices and homes. Bringing bubbling, flowing water into our living and working areas helps bring a natural feeling back into our lives. Tabletop fountains are wonderful room beautifiers and stress reducers.

some cool water fountains… and you can have a lot of fun making your own… if you make your own, they are more affordable and you can add your own fun elements.  Just make sure that you keep the water fountain (zen or peace or garden or tabletop) clean, flowing and easy to access for your pet.

http://www.homeandpatioplace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=47&Page=1

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/home/improvements/792914272-canine-canteen-dog-water-fountain.html

http://www.tntpuff.com/cat_water_fountain.htm

http://www.fengshuifusion.com/article_info.php?articles_id=3

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_furnishings_other/article/0,,HGTV_3433_1375530,00.html

and here are some handy hints and home made remedies using essential oils to ward off fleas and ticks and other useful tips for pet owners…

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/handyhints.htm